1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a toaster for toasting food items and particularly to a toaster-oven having high intensity radiant lamps as the heating source and having a controller to control the on-time of those lamps for proper cooking.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While the radiance of high intensity lamps is well-known, they have not been satisfactory for the cooking of toast and similar food items because the control systems previously used therewith have been inadequate to sense the conditions at which the lamps have completed cooking and should be shut off.
Prior toasters have employed wound nichrome wire heating elements to provide the radiance for the cooking of toast. Nichrome is a satisfactory heating element for such purposes and has the advantage of having a rising resistance with a rising temperature. This makes the nichrome heating element self-limiting in well-designed installations so that temperatures which are excessive with respect to the heating element and which are excessive with respect to the food item being cooked are prevented by the inherent properties of the heater. Thus, the type of toaster control employed with nichrome heating elements does not satisfactorily control the higher intensity sources such as quartz iodide lamps and similar sources.